U.S. patent number 9,872,097 [Application Number 15/246,640] was granted by the patent office on 2018-01-16 for optical heart rate earphone.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., Ltd.. The grantee listed for this patent is Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Hsiang Ling Chung, Wen Bing Hsu, James Lee, Ching Jang Shyr, Hsiu Fen Wang, Kuo Yang Wu, Tsung Hsun Yu.
United States Patent |
9,872,097 |
Lee , et al. |
January 16, 2018 |
Optical heart rate earphone
Abstract
An optical heart rate earphone includes a front housing, a
circuit board assembly, a rear housing assembled to a rear end of
the front housing, and a light pipe. The front housing has a sound
tube. At least one portion of the sound tube forms at least one
light transmission gap. The circuit board assembly includes a
circuit board and at least one optical sensor. The at least one
optical sensor is corresponding to the at least one light
transmission gap. The light pipe has a circular base. At least one
portion of a periphery of the base protrudes rearward to form at
least one transmittance slice. The light pipe is assembled to the
sound tube. The at least one transmittance slice is wedged in the
at least one light transmission gap.
Inventors: |
Lee; James (New Taipei,
TW), Wu; Kuo Yang (New Taipei, TW), Hsu;
Wen Bing (New Taipei, TW), Chung; Hsiang Ling
(New Taipei, TW), Shyr; Ching Jang (New Taipei,
TW), Yu; Tsung Hsun (New Taipei, TW), Wang;
Hsiu Fen (New Taipei, TW) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., Ltd. |
New Taipei |
N/A |
TW |
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Assignee: |
Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co.,
Ltd. (New Taipei, TW)
|
Family
ID: |
57360495 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/246,640 |
Filed: |
August 25, 2016 |
Prior Publication Data
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|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20170339480 A1 |
Nov 23, 2017 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
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May 18, 2016 [CN] |
|
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2016 2 0544787 U |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61B
5/6803 (20130101); A61B 5/6817 (20130101); H04R
1/1075 (20130101); A61B 5/02438 (20130101); A61B
5/02444 (20130101); H04R 1/1016 (20130101); H04R
1/1066 (20130101); H04R 1/1091 (20130101); H04R
23/008 (20130101); A61B 2562/0233 (20130101); H04R
1/1058 (20130101); A61B 5/6898 (20130101); H04R
2225/025 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04R
25/00 (20060101); H04R 1/10 (20060101); A61B
5/024 (20060101); H04R 23/00 (20060101); A61B
5/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;381/322,324,328,330,172,370,374,380,381,382,384
;600/300,479,485,500 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Le; Huyen D
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Lin & Associates Intellectual
Property, Inc.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An optical heart rate earphone, comprising: a front housing
having a case body, and a hollow barrel-shaped sound tube extended
frontward from a front of the case body, at least one portion of
the sound tube forming at least one light transmission gap
penetrating a front edge of the sound tube; a circuit board
assembly including a fastening element, a circuit board, a
loudspeaker and at least one optical sensor, a middle of the
fastening element opening a tuning hole penetrating therethrough
along a front-to-rear direction, the circuit board including a
fastening frame, an assembling portion, and a connecting portion
connected between the fastening frame and the assembling portion,
the fastening element being received in the fastening frame, the
fastening element together with the fastening frame being assembled
in the sound tube, the loudspeaker being assembled to the
assembling portion of the circuit board and facing to the tuning
hole, the at least one optical sensor being fastened to an outer
surface of the fastening frame and corresponding to the at least
one light transmission gap; a rear housing assembled to a rear end
of the front housing; and a light pipe having a circular base, the
base opening a sound hole corresponding to the tuning hole, at
least one portion of a periphery of the base protruding rearward to
form at least one transmittance slice corresponding to the at least
one light transmission gap, the light pipe being assembled to the
sound tube, the at least one transmittance slice being wedged in
the at least one light transmission gap; wherein the light pipe and
the sound tube are capable of being together inserted into an ear
canal for measuring heart rates.
2. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein a
portion of an inner surface of the sound tube protrudes inward to
form a buckling portion extending along a front-to-rear direction,
the fastening element has a limiting portion, and a fastening
portion protruded frontward from a front of the limiting portion, a
portion of the fastening portion is recessed inward to form a
buckling slot extending along the front-to-rear direction, the
buckling portion is buckled in the buckling slot.
3. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 2, wherein a
portion of the fastening frame is opened freely to form an opening
extending along the front-to-rear direction and penetrating through
a front and a rear thereof, the fastening element is received in
the fastening frame, the opening is corresponding to the buckling
slot.
4. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 2, wherein
the buckling slot penetrates through a front surface and a rear
surface of the fastening portion.
5. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 2, wherein
the fastening portion is of an approximately triangular prism
shape, the fastening frame is of an approximately hollow triangular
prism shape and matched with the fastening portion, the fastening
portion is fastened in the fastening frame.
6. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 5, wherein
one arris of the fastening portion is recessed inward to form the
buckling slot extending along the front-to-rear direction.
7. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein a
diameter of the base is consistent with a diameter of the sound
tube of the front housing.
8. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein a
rear wall of the at least one light transmission gap abuts against
a rear of the light pipe.
9. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the optical heart rate earphone is an in-ear type earphone.
10. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the case body has a disc-shaped sealing cover, and a ring-shaped
sealing barrel arched outward and rearward from an outer periphery
of the sealing cover, a junction between the sealing cover and the
sealing barrel opens a through-hole penetrating therethrough, a
periphery wall of the through-hole protrudes frontward to form the
sound tube, the through-hole is communicated with an inside room of
the sound tube.
11. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the at least one optical sensor is an LED sensor.
12. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the at least one optical sensor is fastened to a periphery of the
fastening frame.
13. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the at least one optical sensor is correspondingly placed at a
lower portion of an inside of the ear canal.
14. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the circuit board assembly includes three optical sensors fastened
to a periphery of the fastening frame, the three optical sensors
are placed at a lower portion of an inside of the ear canal.
15. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 14, wherein
the sound tube forms three light transmission gaps penetrating the
front edge of the sound tube, the fastening frame is of an
approximately hollow triangular prism shape, the three optical
sensors are fastened to three outer surfaces of the fastening frame
and separately corresponding to the three transmission gaps.
16. The optical heart rate earphone as claimed in claim 15, wherein
three portions of a periphery of the base protrude rearward to form
three transmittance slices, the three transmittance slices are
separately wedged in the three light transmission gaps.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is based on, and claims priority form,
China Patent Application No. 201620544787.2, filed May 18, 2016,
the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein
in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an earphone, and more
particularly to an optical heart rate earphone.
2. The Related Art
When a sporter is in motion, measuring physiological signals is one
of the most important needs of the sporter. The most important and
valuable indexes of the physiological signals are heart rates. A
function of measuring the heart rates has become a representative
function of a current wearable physiological measurement
device.
The current wearable physiological measurement device mainly
measures electrical signals. But the current wearable physiological
measurement device for measuring the electrical signals has a
complex structure, and it is complex for the sporter to wear the
physiological measurement device. Moreover, it has no way of
supporting the sporter to measure the electrical signals at any
time.
A wearable physiological measurement device for mainly measuring
optical signals solves the above-mentioned problems. Currently, the
wearable physiological measurement device for mainly measuring the
optical signals is usually an optical heart rate earphone. The
optical heart rate earphone is usually an in-ear type earphone. The
optical heart rate earphone includes an optical sensor and an
earphone, so the optical heart rate earphone can not only play
music, but also measure optical signals to measure the heart rates.
Currently, a measuring position of the optical heart rate earphone
is usually at an auricle. The optical sensor is located adjacent to
an inferior margin of the auricle, the measured optical signals are
emitted by a surface of skin of the auricle.
However, the skin of the auricle is thinner, environmental light
easily penetrates through the skin of the auricle, so the optical
signals are easily interfered by the environmental light that makes
the heart rates are measured inaccurately.
In view of the aforesaid description, the above-mentioned problems
has become an important issue to be solved by persons skilled in
the art, so an innovative optical heart rate earphone need be
reasonably designed to effectively improve the above-mentioned
problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical heart
rate earphone. The optical heart rate earphone includes a front
housing, a circuit board assembly, a rear housing and a light pipe.
The front housing has a case body, and a hollow barrel-shaped sound
tube extended frontward from a front of the case body. At least one
portion of the sound tube forms at least one light transmission gap
penetrating a front edge of the sound tube. The circuit board
assembly includes a fastening element, a circuit board, a
loudspeaker and at least one optical sensor. A middle of the
fastening element opens a tuning hole penetrating therethrough
along a front-to-rear direction. The circuit board includes a
fastening frame, an assembling portion, and a connecting portion
connected between the fastening frame and the assembling portion.
The fastening element is received in the fastening frame. The
fastening element together with the fastening frame is assembled in
the sound tube. The loudspeaker is assembled to the assembling
portion of the circuit board and faces to the tuning hole. The at
least one optical sensor is fastened to an outer surface of the
fastening frame and corresponding to the at least one light
transmission gap. The rear housing is assembled to a rear end of
the front housing. The light pipe has a circular base. The base
opens a sound hole corresponding to the tuning hole. At least one
portion of a periphery of the base protrudes rearward to form at
least one transmittance slice corresponding to the at least one
light transmission gap. The light pipe is assembled to the sound
tube. The at least one transmittance slice is wedged in the at
least one light transmission gap. The light pipe and the sound tube
are capable of being together inserted into an ear canal for
measuring heart rates.
As described above, the at least one optical sensor of the circuit
board assembly of the optical heart rate earphone is
correspondingly placed at a lower portion of an ear canal, the at
least one optical sensor measures optical signals of the inside of
the ear canal through the at least one transmittance slice of the
light pipe, so that heart rates are measured accurately. Therefore,
the optical heart rate earphone is reasonably designed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art
by reading the following description, with reference to the
attached drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical heart rate earphone in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the optical heart rate earphone of
FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a circuit board assembly of the
optical heart rate earphone of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the optical heart rate earphone of
FIG. 1, wherein a light pipe is omitted.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, an optical heart rate earphone
100 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention is shown. The optical heart rate earphone 100 includes a
front housing 10, a circuit board assembly 20, a rear housing 30
and a light pipe 40. In this preferred embodiment, the optical
heart rate earphone 100 is an in-ear type earphone.
Referring to FIG. 2, the front housing 10 has a case body 11, and a
hollow barrel-shaped sound tube 12 extended frontward from a front
of the case body 11. The case body 11 has a disc-shaped sealing
cover 13, and a ring-shaped sealing barrel 14 arched outward and
rearward from an outer periphery of the sealing cover 13.
Specifically, a junction between the sealing cover 13 and the
sealing barrel 14 opens a through-hole 17 penetrating therethrough.
A periphery wall of the through-hole 17 protrudes frontward to form
the hollow barrel-shaped sound tube 12. So the through-hole 17 is
communicated with an inside room of the sound tube 12. At least one
portion of the sound tube 12 forms at least one light transmission
gap 15 penetrating a front edge of the sound tube 12. Specifically,
the sound tube 12 forms three light transmission gaps 15
penetrating the front edge of the sound tube 12. A portion of an
inner surface of the sound tube 12 protrudes inward to form a
buckling portion 16 extending along a front-to-rear direction. The
buckling portion 16 is of a strip shape.
Referring to FIG. 2, the circuit board assembly 20 includes a
fastening element 21, a circuit board 22, a loudspeaker 23 and at
least one optical sensor 24. In this preferred embodiment, the at
least one optical sensor 24 is an LED sensor.
Referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, a middle of the fastening element 21
opens a tuning hole 213 penetrating therethrough along the
front-to-rear direction. The fastening element 21 has a limiting
portion 211, and a fastening portion 212 protruded frontward from a
front of the limiting portion 211. The fastening portion 212 is of
an approximately triangular prism shape. The fastening portion 212
has a substantially triangular front surface and a substantially
triangular rear surface. A portion of the fastening portion 212 is
recessed inward to form a buckling slot 214 extending along the
front-to-rear direction. The buckling slot 214 penetrates through
the front surface and the rear surface of the fastening portion
212. The buckling slot 214 is matched with the buckling portion 16.
In this preferred embodiment, one arris of the fastening portion
212 is recessed inward to form the buckling slot 214 extending
along the front-to-rear direction.
The circuit board 22 includes a fastening frame 221, an assembling
portion 223, and a connecting portion 222 connected between the
fastening frame 221 and the assembling portion 223. The fastening
frame 221 is of an approximately hollow triangular prism shape and
is matched with the fastening portion 212 of the fastening element
21. A portion of the fastening frame 221 is opened freely to form
an opening 224 extending along the front-to-rear direction and
penetrating through a front and a rear thereof. The fastening
element 21 is received in the fastening frame 221. The fastening
portion 212 is fastened in the fastening frame 221. The opening 224
is corresponding to the buckling slot 214. The loudspeaker 23 is
assembled to the assembling portion 223 of the circuit board 22 and
faces to the tuning hole 213 of the fastening element 21.
The at least one optical sensor 24 is fastened to an outer surface
of the fastening frame 221 of the circuit board 22 and
corresponding to the at least one light transmission gap 15 of the
front housing 10. The at least one optical sensor 24 is fastened to
a periphery of the fastening frame 221. In this preferred
embodiment, the circuit board assembly 20 includes three optical
sensors 24 fastened to the periphery of the fastening frame 221.
Specifically, the three optical sensors 24 are fastened to three
outer surfaces of the fastening frame 221 and separately
corresponding to the three light transmission gaps 15.
The circuit board assembly 20 is assembled in the front housing 10.
The fastening element 21 together with the fastening frame 221 is
assembled in the sound tube 12. The buckling portion 16 is buckled
in the buckling slot 214. The at least one optical sensor 24 is
correspondingly assembled to the at least one light transmission
gap 15.
The rear housing 30 is assembled to a rear end of the front housing
10. So the circuit board assembly 20 is surrounded between the rear
housing 30 and the front housing 10.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the light pipe 40 has a circular
base 41. A diameter of the base 41 is consistent with a diameter of
the sound tube 12 of the front housing 10. The base 41 opens a
sound hole 42. At least one portion of a periphery of the base 41
protrudes rearward to form at least one transmittance slice 43. The
light pipe 40 is assembled to the sound tube 12. The at least one
transmittance slice 43 is corresponding to the at least one light
transmission gap 15. The at least one transmittance slice 43 is
wedged in the at least one light transmission gap 15. A rear wall
of the at least one light transmission gap 15 abuts against a rear
of the light pipe 40. The sound hole 42 is communicated with the
inside room of the sound tube 12. The sound hole 42 is
corresponding to the tuning hole 213 of the fastening element 21 of
the circuit board assembly 20. In this preferred embodiment, three
portions of the periphery of the base 41 protrude rearward to form
three transmittance slices 43. The three transmittance slices 43
are separately wedged in the three light transmission gaps 15.
The light pipe 40 and the sound tube 12 are capable of being
together inserted into an ear canal for measuring heart rates. When
the optical heart rate earphone 100 is in use, the light pipe 40
and the sound tube 12 of the front housing 10 are inserted into the
ear canal. The at least one optical sensor 24 is correspondingly
placed at a lower portion of an inside of the ear canal. The heart
rates are measured more accurately by virtue of the at least one
optical sensor 24 measuring optical signals of the inside of the
ear canal through the at least one transmittance slice 43 of the
light pipe 40. Specifically, the three optical sensors 24 are
placed at the lower portion of the inside of the ear canal. The
heart rates are measured more accurately by virtue of the optical
sensors 24 measuring optical signals of the lower portion of the
inside of the ear canal.
In this preferred embodiment, the circuit board assembly 20 further
includes a Bluetooth module (not shown). A user is capable of
answering a telephone or enjoying music by means of the Bluetooth
module being able to transmit the optical signals sensed by the at
least one optical sensor 24 to a peripheral equipment for a
real-time measurement and being able to transmit signals from the
peripheral equipment to the user.
As described above, the at least one optical sensor 24 of the
circuit board assembly 20 of the optical heart rate earphone 100 is
correspondingly placed at the lower portion of the ear canal, the
at least one optical sensor 24 measures the optical signals of the
inside of the ear canal through the at least one transmittance
slice 43 of the light pipe 40, so that the heart rates are measured
more accurately. Therefore, the optical heart rate earphone 100 is
reasonably designed.
* * * * *